UAE, Japan Unite on Bluefin Farming

GLOBE - The UAE Ministry of Water and Environment has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kinki University in Japan to cultivate Pacific bluefin tuna in the UAE.

“This is the first collaboration of this type between Japan and the UAE,” Senator Hiroshige Seko, also Deputy Chairman of Kinki University, told Khaleej Times. According to the news organisation, he noted that traditional relations for both countries were primarily on the oil and financial sectors.

The MoU says that specialists from Kinky University will conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of bluefish farming in the UAE.

Citing temperature as one of the major concerns of bluefin farming in the UAE, Seko said, “The Pacific bluefin tuna are very sensitive. They need between 25-28 C of seawater temperature in order to survive. The summer months in Japan are ideal egging season for the fish but in the UAE, this may pose a problem.”

He added that they are looking at the possibility of bringing male and female bluefin tunas into the country instead of eggs, reports Khaleej Times. “But this may also be a problem, so we’ll have to study the best approach,” said the Senator.